Why is it problematic for technicians to say they teach in higher education?
This article challenges the popular misconception that technicians do not teach within higher education (HE). Writing from their experiences as technicians and educational researchers within the creative arts (Savage) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) (Vere), the authors questio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education |
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| Online Access: | https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/1191 |
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| author | Tim Savage Kelly Vere |
| author_facet | Tim Savage Kelly Vere |
| author_sort | Tim Savage |
| collection | DOAJ |
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This article challenges the popular misconception that technicians do not teach within higher education (HE). Writing from their experiences as technicians and educational researchers within the creative arts (Savage) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) (Vere), the authors question why many technicians feel unable to describe their teaching activities as teaching, calling for greater recognition of technicians’ pedagogic contribution to the sector, while also arguing that through the activities of teaching, the boundaries between academic and technical roles have become increasingly blurred.
Drawing on Whitchurch’s concept of a ‘Third Space’, the article highlights how political, economic, social and technological factors have transformed HE since the turn of the millennium to establish the conditions in which technical roles and teaching have become increasingly sophisticated and prevalent. The authors argue that academic roles have simultaneously been disaggregated during this same period, exacerbating complexities, tensions, and overlaps that further problematise what was once a straightforward binary between academic and technical roles, challenging orthodoxies, identities and dominant hegemonies.
The authors call upon the sector to formally acknowledge this valuable element of HE and to integrate it not just into the language but into the formal functions, structures, systems and strategies to create a unified space in which academic and technical educators integrate and collaborate to develop curricula and deliver pedagogies that enhance student learning and advance knowledge.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-437ef23059ff479ba5cd54550d67942f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1759-667X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education |
| spelling | doaj-art-437ef23059ff479ba5cd54550d67942f2025-01-31T07:56:49ZengAssociation for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education1759-667X2025-01-013310.47408/jldhe.vi33.1191Why is it problematic for technicians to say they teach in higher education?Tim Savage0Kelly Vere1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2208-671XUniversity for the Creative Arts University of Nottingham This article challenges the popular misconception that technicians do not teach within higher education (HE). Writing from their experiences as technicians and educational researchers within the creative arts (Savage) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) (Vere), the authors question why many technicians feel unable to describe their teaching activities as teaching, calling for greater recognition of technicians’ pedagogic contribution to the sector, while also arguing that through the activities of teaching, the boundaries between academic and technical roles have become increasingly blurred. Drawing on Whitchurch’s concept of a ‘Third Space’, the article highlights how political, economic, social and technological factors have transformed HE since the turn of the millennium to establish the conditions in which technical roles and teaching have become increasingly sophisticated and prevalent. The authors argue that academic roles have simultaneously been disaggregated during this same period, exacerbating complexities, tensions, and overlaps that further problematise what was once a straightforward binary between academic and technical roles, challenging orthodoxies, identities and dominant hegemonies. The authors call upon the sector to formally acknowledge this valuable element of HE and to integrate it not just into the language but into the formal functions, structures, systems and strategies to create a unified space in which academic and technical educators integrate and collaborate to develop curricula and deliver pedagogies that enhance student learning and advance knowledge. https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/1191technicianstechnicalteachingpedagogythird space |
| spellingShingle | Tim Savage Kelly Vere Why is it problematic for technicians to say they teach in higher education? Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education technicians technical teaching pedagogy third space |
| title | Why is it problematic for technicians to say they teach in higher education? |
| title_full | Why is it problematic for technicians to say they teach in higher education? |
| title_fullStr | Why is it problematic for technicians to say they teach in higher education? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Why is it problematic for technicians to say they teach in higher education? |
| title_short | Why is it problematic for technicians to say they teach in higher education? |
| title_sort | why is it problematic for technicians to say they teach in higher education |
| topic | technicians technical teaching pedagogy third space |
| url | https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/1191 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT timsavage whyisitproblematicfortechnicianstosaytheyteachinhighereducation AT kellyvere whyisitproblematicfortechnicianstosaytheyteachinhighereducation |